They Stayed Up All Night To Bring Attention To Climate Change
Written by Isabelle Whitehead
Twenty-eight U.S. senators held an all-night “talkathon” last Monday (10 March 2014) to call attention to climate change, an effort that aimed to “wake up Congress” about the seriousness of the issue.
The “talkathon” started after Senate’s last votes Monday and lasted until Tuesday at 9 a.m. It was organized by the Climate Action Task Force, a group launched in January whose goal is to take an aggressive stance on climate change in Congress. Twenty-six Democrats and two independents attended the talkathon and tweeted throughout the night using the hashtag #Up4Climate.
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Climate Change Not a Top Worry in U.S.
While the twenty-eight U.S. senators held the all-night “talkathon”, they were publiciszing an issue that only 24% of Americans say they worry about a great deal. This puts climate change, along with the quality of the environment, near the bottom of a list of 15 issues Americans rated in Gallup’s March 6-9 survey. The economy, federal spending, and healthcare dominate Americans’ worries.
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There seems to be a wide gap between American public interest in the environment and climate change and that shown by policy makers. Additionally, it seems that even within the policy maker segment there must be a wide divergence of opinion if 28 members of the Senate have to do an all-nighter to emphasize their point. Politicians are pushing on string, unless they can get the public interested by solving the public’s priorities first.
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Maybe they should link the environment and climate change to the public’s priorities, by making them part of the solution.
And it’s not all doom and gloom. A rival Zogby Poll on behalf of SolarCity and Clean Edge, shows growing awareness amongst American homeowners. It seems that Americans who own their homes are more environmentally aware.
So maybe the glass is half full and politicians just need to top it up.
